Materials: Acrylic box (the kind you get with a box frame), tempera paint, cotton swab (or something else that will make marks in the paint–I bet older kids could come up with all sorts of ideas), paper that’s larger than the box

G’s favorite thing to do is paint at her easel, and any time we’re in the studio, she fits in some painting time. The other day, before she painted at the easel, I convinced her to try something new.

I explained that she was going to paint on the clear plastic and then we’d press the paper on top before peeling it off to see what the paper looked like. I asked her what color she’d like, and she asked for black. “Any other color with your black?” Nope, just black.

“Polka dots,” she said as she jabbed the brush onto the plastic.

The next step is to make some marks in the paint with the cotton swab.

Then we lay a piece of paper over the top of the paint and G helped me smooth it down. I have no photos of this process because I was busy! When we peeled the paper off, we had a print:

How cool is that? After three prints,

G was ready to paint on her easel. She requested I draw the smiley face, by the way. Smiles! Painting is so much fun!

Reminder: All text and photos copyright Amy Hood. I love to spread the word about great art experiences for kids, don't you? You may use a photo to link back to a specific activity or post, but if you'd like to use more than one photo or any text, please contact me first: kidsinthestudio at gmail dot com. Thank you!